Helllo and thank you for stopping by! My name is Kandis Marino and I specialize in lifestyle photography for couples, families and companies with over 11 years of experience in the field of photography. With an educational background in digital, film, photojournalism and a variety of photo editing programs, I have accomplished a degree in Photographic Arts as well as in Commercial Photography. I am currently based out of Temecula, Ca. and surrounding Southern California areas and am available for hire to travel. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me! I would love to hear from you!

Minnetonka Moccasin In Iceland – Everyday Adventure Campaign

When we first decided to head to Iceland for the trip of a lifetime we weren’t exactly planning on working too much while we were there. Yet, we selected a couple of companies to work with on this adventure and Minnetonka Moccasin was one of them. It was such a blast and a complete privilege to get to photograph some amazing products in such an amazing place.

We excitedly worked closely on adding to their Everyday Adventure campaign to create a look book where you can shop the looks that we took on our epic journey, which you can check out {HERE} on the Minnetonka website, as well as a two part blog post to highlight and capture the adventurous spirit of the everyday, which you can find {HERE} and {HERE}.

You can find highlights of our trip over on the Minnetonka website but I have been so excited to share some parts of our trip with all of you, so I’ve decided to share the un-cut version of our trip through Iceland featuring Minnetonka Moccasin here!

So here is a little extra about our trip! Hope you enjoy!

MINNETONKA MOCCASIN EVERYDAY ADVENTURE IN ICELAND

In early summer, my husband Dan and I decided to take an epic trip in order to escape Southern California’s, “all year long warm weather!” We wanted to head to a bucket-list worthy destination that would allow us to receive our winter fix.

So we packed up our warm clothes and camera gear, grabbed our passports and jetted off to Iceland for 10 days to explore and adventure our little hearts out! We decided to go in late October/early November to make sure we had a good chance to see the Northern Lights, a photographers dream come true right?

A lot of planning went into mapping out our trip. We wanted to be able to really explore the greater part of the south end of Iceland.

The scenery instantly took our breath away! With the coast on one side and snow top covered green mountains with waterfalls at every turn on the other side or glaciers coming out from behind the mountains, it made driving one of the highlights of our trip!

We started the first part of our trip in Snæfellsnes. This is where we had the privilege of staying in one of the most unique places!

We cozied up in our quaint little Glacier Lodge over looking the coast from the front and Snæfellsjökull (the glacier) from the back, a view that will forever have an imprint on our memories especially during sunrise!

The Snæfellsnes Peninsula most definitely had a lot of scenery to offer including Kirkjufellsfoss Waterfalls which is across the street from Kirkjufell Mountain. It was a must see with its unique bridge over the gap of the falls and stunning scenery, even if the rain did start to pour down on us!

A lot of areas to explore are really just off the side of the road, like Arnarstapi, where you can see cliffs and rock arch formations along the coast. There was also some moss covered lava rocks that we came up to on our drive and decided to get out and explore on them for a little while. Before making our way out of this secluded blissful part of Iceland, we stumbled upon the cutest little A-line house in an area that had gotten lightly dusted with snow, it was a perfect end to our stay before we drove off to the next city!

The small (very small) town had a lot to offer and exceeded our highest expectations!

We rented one of the most amazing Airbnb houses for our three night stay in Selfoss! It was a huge secluded open space with floor windows, a large kitchen to cook our own meals, a fireplace and a record player.

One of the main goals in Iceland was to see the Northern Lights. Luckily for us, we got to watch the lights dance, swirl and show off right before our eyes on our first night’s stay there! It was one of the most unbelievable and unforgettable experiences of our lives.

We decided to lodge in Selfoss because it was in the general vicinity of many main sight seeing locations, like the Golden Circle. Some of the highlights that we got to experience were extravagant places such as, the geothermal area called Geysir, Gulfoss waterfall, Seljalandsfoss and the almighty Skógafoss. All of these places are a MUST see! Each and every location was a whole new adventure!

One of the most special moments though was when we were exploring Seljalandsfoss. Of course the actual waterfall itself was magnificent, but there was a pathway near the falls that we could walk along so we took it. As we were walking there were some smaller falls streaming down the side of the mountain and when we came to the end of the pathway, there was a small rock crevasse with a stream of water flowing out of it. We were able to see that there was a waterfall behind the crevasse if you walked back. So, with our waterproof gear of course, we trekked behind the crevasse and came up to a waterfall that was falling through an opening of a rock ceiling with a huge boulder right below the falls! The light was peaking through the top and shining down the water into this amazing closed off space.

We enjoyed every single second of getting completely misted with this cold fresh water! It was an experience for the ages and one special moment I still look back on and just think… wow! I later found out that this water fall is called, Gljùfrabùi – The Hidden Waterfall.

In order to see Iceland you will definitely be driving a lot! We decided to take a straight shot from Selfoss to the little town of Höfn, a five hour stretch. We were stopped by some of the most unique landscapes that left us in awe. We stood and gazed at the fog rolling over lush green moss while the sun set.

When we had finally arrived, we stayed at an adorable little place called, Apartment By the Sea that had a view that you could stare at all day long. This cute fishing town had colorful buildings, ships and entertaining areas to enjoy, this is also where we tried Icelandic hot dogs for our first time…. YUM! Höfn easily became an admired part of Iceland for us.

Icelandic horses are iconic for their majestic beauty. I was on a hunt to literally hug an Icelandic horse! On our drive to Vík, we pulled off the road near a heard of horses where they approached us willingly. Their gentle demeanor allowed us to pet, feed and interact with them… I was a pretty happy camper after our encounter to say the least.

You would even catch some places off the side of the road that were unusual must stop and see sites, like old rock shacks that were nestled at the bottom and up against huge rock formations literally in the middle of a farm field, it looked a little like something that came out the The Lord of the Rings movies.

One of the Instagram famous locations that we had to see was the DC3 plane wreckage site… aka “That Iceland Plane.” To get to this location was a little off the beaten path and on rocky black gravel. When we first laid eyes on this open space with black all around us and the plane standing alone in the distance, I understood why this specific spot has become so “insta-famous”! It was awesome!! We spent a lot of time creating fun photographs and hanging out here, definitely a highlight!

They had adorable shops with fun local craftsmanship, art and photography. As huge coffee enthusiasts we had tried two coffee shops that were recommended to us by a local. C is For Cookie and Reykjavík Roasters were both fantastic with unique atmospheres that made us want to stay there all day. We went all out for our last dinner in Iceland because we heard the best food was in the city. Seeing as we cooked the majority of the time we were there, we wanted to have an all around Icelandic food experience. We dined at Sjávargrillið and let me tell you, we almost got sick from eating so much because it was THAT GOOD! The pork belly and langoustine was a must order for the appetizer and Dan had ordered the smoked lamb fillet and it was like nothing we had ever tasted. If we ever find ourselves back in Iceland we would definitely be eating here again!

Ending our trip was definitely the hardest part and we were not ready to say goodbye to Iceland. We made memories that would last a lifetime and got to experience an adventure that we will never forget. We got to come home with stories of the dream that we lived on a bucket-list worthy trip and we hope that you too one day will get to visit this amazing country!